Washington, DC; February 3, 1998--With roughly 70
legislative days before the 105th Congress plans to adjourn,
Dr. C. Everett Koop -- the former U.S. Surgeon General --
traveled up to Capitol Hill today to speak plainly about the
three health care issues that now account for the vast
majority -- 75 percent -- of the preventable deaths in this
country: tobacco use, poor diet and inactivity, and alcohol
abuse.

Speaking at a news conference kicking off the new
Congressional Prevention Coalition (CPC), Dr. Koop called on
Congress not to lose sight of those issues that will most
directly affect death and disease rates in the U.S. While
proposals to reform the health care system are clearly
important, the public health leader said that equally
necessary is a clear set of legislative policies that will
reduce preventable death and disease.

As a respected public health authority who continues to
speak out about unresolved health issues, Dr. Koop said that
tobacco use remains the number one cause of preventable
death, accounting for more than 420,000 lives lost each
year. Right behind this problem are "poor diet and
inactivity," which are responsible for the growing epidemic
of obesity in America. Based on several published studies,
the unhealthy weight that results from poor diet and a
sedentary lifestyle account for 300,000 deaths a year.

"The link between obesity and an increased risk of premature
death is similar to the association between smoking and lung
cancer," said Dr. Koop, whose anti-obesity initiative, Shape Up America!,
has been working to educate Americans and
policymakers about the health consequences of an unhealthy
weight. "If you are at an unhealthy weight, you face a
higher risk of premature death."

Besides these two health problems where Dr. Koop has been
focusing most of his energies, the misuse of alcohol and
other addictive substances is the third-ranking cause of
preventable deaths. Each year, the medical illnesses and
injuries associated with alcohol and other drug abuse
account for 120,000 preventable deaths.

Besides stressing the prevention of these three health
problems, Dr. Koop called on Congress to help "the enormous
number of people already afflicted": 45 million smokers, 58
million obese Americans, and 15 million to 20 million people
who are alcohol or drug dependent.

"What can be expected for these people is years of
suffering, unnecessary health care costs, and ultimately
premature death," said Dr. Koop, adding that "This toll of
chronic illness can be interrupted if Congress promotes the
earliest possible intervention. Since a discussion of
unhealthy behaviors needs to be a part of standard medical
care, legislative initiatives can facilitate this
intervention if the discussions become reimbursable."

Specifically, the health care leader said that alcohol
screening and assessment in emergency departments, hospitals
and other health care settings is rare in the U.S. Even more
problematic, Dr. Koop said, is that little is being done to
encourage early interventions that will help the patient
understand the link between personal behaviors and the
reduced risk for serious disease, disability and death.

"This is not a problem requiring additional fact-finding
before action is taken," said Dr. Koop. "Developing a
national prevention agenda clearly deserves the attention of
policy makers and the medical community alike."

To drive home the importance of developing congressional
policy to prevent specific diseases, like obesity, Dr.
Koop's Shape Up America! initiative sponsored a "Know Your
Body Mass Index (BMI)" health screening fair for
congressional members and their staff as the first activity
of the Congressional Prevention Coalition. Because BMI -- a
measurement that takes into account both height and weight
-- is an important indicator of health status, Shape Up America!
measured the BMI's of congressional leaders to
underscore the need to establish BMI as a screening tool
with the same significance to public health as measuring
blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

At the same time, the health screening fair exposed
congressional members to experts in nutrition, physical
activity, weight management and those disease organizations
for which obesity is a comorbid condition -- meaning
diseases that worsen as obesity increases or improves as
obesity is treated. Coordinated by Shape Up America!, the
fair provided information on obesity comorbidities from: the
American Cancer Society, the American Diabetes Association,
the American Heart Association, the American Institute for
Cancer Research, the Arthritis Foundation and the Diabetes
Prevention Program. Other participants included: the
American Obesity Association, the National Association for
Sport and Physical Education, the Partnership for Prevention
and Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS).

The newly created Congressional Prevention Coalition (CPC)
was formed to advocate ways to integrate disease prevention
and health promotion into our nation's health care system.
Describing the CPC as "an idea whose time has come," Senator
John H. Chafee (R-RI), one of the Co-Chairs, said: "As
lawmakers from both parties join forces to tackle the
challenges of health care this year, we must focus on the
ways in which we can prevent Americans from getting sick,
rather than just rely on the tried-and-true methods of
treating illness once it occurs."

Added Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA), another Co-Chair, "By
investing in programs that stop young people from smoking,
by providing incentives for people to exercise, by educating
people about what foods to eat, we can help extend, and even
save, the lives of millions of people."